Opinion: A long-range view of history
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Times staff writer Robin Abcarian nicely captured the scene at the swearing-in ceremony. Here’s an excerpt:
They gathered at the feet of the Abraham Lincoln Memorial this morning, the people who didn’t feel the need to be up close, who were happy just to share in a proud American moment.
The Lincoln Memorial, two miles west of where the new president will take his oath, is as far as you can get from the swearing-in and still feel part of things. It is Lincoln, signer of the Emancipation Proclamation, whose deeds and words seemed to inform the day like no other past president.
While the great stone statue watches from afar, Barack Obama would rest his hand on Lincoln’s Bible and take the oath to become 44th president of the United States.
‘I just thought, this is as secular a church as you can get,’ said Morgan Schoerner, 40, a South Pasadena editor who was here with his wife, Kim, and 10-year-old son, Max.
Morgan and Max were huddled in the doorway of the visitors center, below the statue of Lincoln, finding some warm relief from the air outside.
Half a dozen teenagers slept curled on the floor nearby. Kate Okoye, a 53-year-old Nigerian woman, cuddled her 10-month-old son, Benson, as she watched the visitors center video about civil rights.
A clip about the Equal Rights Amendment was playing. ‘We are so happy that Obama is president today,’ said Okoye. ‘The first African president.’
Read the rest of Abcarian’s story here.
--Martin Beck
Kim Ludbrook / EPA